An Unkindness of Stars
by LoverGurrl411
Summary: Octavia is discovered when Bellamy is 13yrs old. Instead of letting the council imprison her, Bellamy and Clarke plead for the council to send him and Octavia down to Earth. Against all odds, they do. But surviving Earth is harder than Bellamy ever thought:: or the one where Bellamy is adopted by a king on Earth, and has to learn grounder politics. Slow-Burn Bellarke.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer - I own nothing.

A.N - So, I know plenty of you are thinking right now that I must be a lunatic for writing this when I have so many stories in progress. However, I already have all of Season 1 completely outlined , and I'm crazy excited to write this. Anywho, hope this meets everyone's expectations!

/_Though our feet might ache, the world's upon our shoulders_

_No way we gon' break, 'cause we are full of wonder_

_Whoa, oh we ain't failing under_

_Whoa, oh we are full of wonder_/

-Wonder, Emeli Sande

Chapter 1 - The Reigns of Justice

Bellamy's heart galloped in his chest as he screamed, kicked, thrashed against the guards who were picking up Octavia's fighting form and trying to carry to her away. Maybe he wouldn't have exploded in such violence if Octavia hadn't whimpered.

But her noise of fear curled into his stomach, and twisted until all the fire that lived deep inside of him came crashing out against those who threatened his family.

His attack on the guards spurred Octavia, little Octavia who still couldn't stop herself from being afraid of the dark.

The guards tried to calm them, but it was no use. The fire burned too deep inside of Bellamy. The fear inside of Octavia was too large.

The guards never stood a chance, and they ran-their legs taking them right and left. They didn't know where they were running, but Octavia was only seven years old. Her little legs couldn't stretch as far as Bellamy's could. Bellamy wasn't much better, at thirteen, he'd hit a small growth spurt and his body felt awkward, gangly-out of balance with the ark all around him as he tried to run and pull Octavia along.

But she'd never been outside of their small apartment. She'd never had to jump or run so much, and her little legs finally gave out. A cry escaped her as her right leg cramped, and Bellamy cursed.

He could hear the boots of the guard chasing them bouncing off the walls. He lifted Octavia off of the floor, and place her on his hip, like he'd seen his mom do a thousand times. He started running again, but the shadows were his enemy and all the corridors seemed to be blocked or neverending.

He couldn't run as fast while carrying Octavia, and as he heard the Guards come closer and closer, he knew they'd be caught soon.

He knew-but there was a light. There was a light and a little girl, maybe only a couple of years younger than him standing next to a door.

She looked upon him and without thought, out of breath, he said, "Help!"

Clarke took in his scraggly hair, and the little girl on his hip. She had no idea why he was running, but she knew that everything was a 'capital' offense on the ark, though her mom still refused to tell her what 'capital' meant.

She opened the door and Bellamy rushed through and kept running through until he reached the last bedroom. This apartment was clearly ten times the size of his, but he was grateful that she'd let him in.

He doubted anyone would look for them there...for now.

"Thanks," he mumbled, still trying to catch his breath.

"I'm Clarke," she announced.

"Bellamy," he nodded his head in that way he'd seen older men do.

"Why were you running?" Clarke took Octavia from his arms, and took her to sit on the bed. He'd hesitated, but in the end, his trembling arms couldn't hold her much longer. The second Octavia felt the softness of the bed, her eyes fluttered shut. Her snores followed not long after.

"Guards are after us."

"Why?"

Bellamy shrugged, "They need a reason?"

His bitterness was a direct result of living a life of poverty, hardship, and distrust. But Clarke had been raised in the complete opposite circumstances.

"_Of course_ they need a reason!" She declared importantly.

"Hn, not a very good one," Bellamy pursed his lips and bit the inside of his cheek. He was grateful for the help, but he found Clarke's inquisitiveness a bit annoying.

"Well, _why_ were they chasing you?"

"They're chasing us because Octavia _exists_" he snapped, and felt a strange victory at seeing the girls face pale.

"That can't be it!"

"Just like you heard it, princess," he raised an eyebrow and let his body sink to the floor against the closest wall that wasn't decorated. His family could barely afford to eat and this little girl had enough to be able to decorate her space. He felt indignity and envy curl inside of him, but he tried to push it down. He tried to keep those dark feelings at bay because she had helped them and she didn't have to. "Octavia was born a crime-she's my sister."

"No one has a sister on the ark," she said cautiously.

Clarke felt like the world was tilting. The ark was everything good and kind. But there was a darkness that she didn't understand. There was a darkness she'd never seen, being only eleven years old and sheltered among the privileged.

"I do. That's the problem."

There was a silence that was slightly suffocating. Bellamy knew he couldn't hide here forever.

"So the guards found out?" Clarke looked at Octavia who'd fallen asleep on the bed.

"Yeah," he sighed and ran a hand through his unkempt hair. "I don't how, but they came in and started searching, and they were tearing the place apart. It's like they knew she was there somewhere and they just needed to find her. And they did. And shit got crazy."

"You shouldn't curse," Clarke gave him a superior look.

"Yeah, princess," Bellamy scoffed. "Because _that's_ my biggest problem."

"You still shouldn't curse," Clarke insisted. "My dad has the same problem sometimes and my mom says that it's a bad habit."

He glared, "Can we focus on the fact that we're gonna be floated?"

"Only adults get floated," Clarke imparted her limited knowledge. His eyes were the darkest brown she'd ever seen and they seemed to know more than her, understand a life she didn't.

"Do you know what it means to get floated?"

Clarke glared right back at him and crossed her arms. "Of course! Jeremy's mom got floated last year, and I asked my mom about it. She said I don't have to worry because only adults get floated."

"Well, one day we'll be adults." His heart started beating in his chest wildly at the thought, but he held onto what he'd try to teach to Octavia. _I'm not afraid, I'm not afraid_. But he was, and he hated the feeling. "They can just hold us, lock us up, until we're old enough to float."

"Just for being alive?" Clarke bit her nail. It was a nasty habit her mother was trying to break her from, but she figured if there were ever a moment to be allowed to bite her nails, it was right then. "They can't do that!"

"They can," Bellamy felt his eyes well up with tears. He didn't know what he was supposed to do. "They _will_, we both know they will. What am I supposed to do?"

"Is there no way to get around it?"

"Maybe on Earth, sure," Bellamy joked dryly, slowly despairing, as he watched Octavia sleep peacefully. "But up here, there's nowhere to run and hide forever."

Bellamy at thirteen was jaded-courtesy of his mother's bitterness seeping into his very soul, alongside the tragic lives of those living in Factory Station. But Clarke was raised in a bubble of wonder, and at eleven, she still thought anything was possible.

"But on the Earth you can…"

"Sure...but I'm not on the earth, princess," Bellamy rolled his eyes, confused as to where this was going.

"But you _could_ be on the Earth!" Clarke smiled brightly as though she'd discovered all the answers to the universe.

"Are you crazy?" Bellamy asked her seriously.

Now, it was her turn to roll her eyes. "No. Listen, you said it yourself-you can't outrun your fate here. They're..they're gonna float you when you become an adult. But if you're on Earth they can't."

"I won't be able to do much on Earth since I'll be dead. Isn't that why we're all up here-because we can't live down there?"

It was a fair question, and Clarke could only shrug. It wasn't ideal, but it was some kind of plan at least.

"Do you think there's a chance they won't float you up here?"

Bellamy thought of the way he'd attacked those guards to get away. He thought about the way they cried out in anger, and the sounds of their heavy footfalls.

"No," he said quietly. There was no chance they wouldn't float them. Not anymore. Not after that ruckus. Maybe they never had stood a chance, but now they'd float them for sure. He felt sick to his stomach.

"Then what other choice do you have? Better to take your chances down there then up here where you don't have a chance."

He wanted to ask how they would even get to the ground, but right then the door opened and a woman he recognized as being on the council entered the room.

They'd been so engrossed in their conversation they hadn't realized the front door had opened.

Bellamy jumped up and stood in front of Clarke and Octavia sleeping form, his body poised to attack. It was ridiculous, protecting Clarke, because this was probably her mother if the similarities of their features meant anything, but he didn't know if helping them was a crime. He didn't know anything except _protect, protect, protect. _

Even at thirteen, it was intrinsically who he was.

Abby looked upon him and Clarke in surprise. She'd gotten home to check on Clarke before her next shift only to find the children the guard was searching for desperately.

She also noticed that he wasn't just positioned to protect his sister, but Clarke as well. Abby had no idea how this current situation came to be, but she was not amused.

"The entire guard is looking for you, young man," Abby frowned severely. "You and your sister."

"We can explain!" Clarke piped up, and moved around Bellamy to stand right beside him.

He looked and Clarke, and she looked back. They had a plan. Not a very good or well thought out plan, but it was a plan nonetheless.

Abby saw the determination in their faces, the silent conversation taking place between the two children, and she didn't know what to do. Suddenly, a hand landed on her shoulder, and her husband's face appeared right behind her.

"Well, let's take this to the living room and hear all about it."

* * *

Clarke's couches were comfortable, but Bellamy couldn't relax. Once in the living room, Abby had sent for the Chancellor and Councilmen Kane. They'd given the council in front of them their half ass plan, but they didn't look convinced.

"Look, kid-" Jake Griffin started, but Bellamy was a fighter. And Even though he didn't really believe in this plan, it was better than the alternative.

"You guys never pardon anyone!" Bellamy said firmly. "You know you don't. And what has octavia done except be _born_? How is that her fault? On the Earth we've got a shot."

"The Earth won't be livable for another sixty years _at least_," Jaha tried to explain calmly. Abby nodded alongside the Chancellor; she saw the hope in her daughter's eyes, and she felt horrible for ripping it apart.

"That's just science!" Clarke pushed. "But science isn't a guarantee right?"

"She's right," Bellamy saw where Clarke was going. Or, he thought he did. He hoped he did, or else this conversation was going to devolve really quickly. "Science up here can't dictate what's happening on the ground. Maybe it won't be livable for another sixty years, or it's livable right now. Either way, we're voluntary guinea pigs-we're asking you to send us and let us find out for you."

"You're kids. You can't operate a ship to get down there, and you won't be able to fix anything if it goes wrong," Abby stated matter-of-factly.

"So make it automatic," Clarke sighed harshly. She didn't understand why they were finding every reason to say no. "And if something goes wrong, it won't matter much because they'd still have been floated up here anyway...right?"

Somewhere inside of Clarke, she wanted her parents to say that they wouldn't float Bellamy and Octavia. She wanted to believe that her parents wouldn't float someone just for existing, just for protecting their sister, but Abby smiled grimly and she knew that Bellamy had been right.

Bellamy could see the rejection on their faces. But he had to try, at least one last time.

"Give us a fighting chance," he slammed his fist against the arm of the sofa. He looked at Marcus Kane and saw something of himself in the man's features. It hurt, the idea that this man could be his father. He'd had his suspicions, but his mother refused to answer him either way. "Up here, we're goners. But down there, if there's a way to survive, I'll find it. If there's a way to beat the odds, I can do it. I know I can. Because dying isn't an option. Not for me. Sure as hell not for Octavia. She's my sister, my responsibility. But you've gotta _let me try_."

Clarke could feel the air change the second he finished his speech.

_Give us a fighting chance_.

She saw Councilman Kane's eyes soften for a second, and without anyone's input, Kane stepped forward and nodded his head.

"Alright," he locked eyes with Bellamy. Father and son, though neither knew it and both suspected. "Prove you're a fighter, kid. Beat the odds."

Bellamy smiled and turned to Clarke who glowed.

They'd succeeded, together, and Bellamy was sure he could achieve anything at that moment.

* * *

So, what do you guys think? Love it? Hate it? Let me know and Review! **Reviews are love**


	2. Rushing Comets

Disclaimer – I own nothing.

A.N. – Thank you so much for everyone who favorited/followed! And to the lovely **Lulue 0123, **thank you so much for your kind review! I really appreciate hearing your thoughts! Hopefully this chapter was everything you guys hoped it would be!

/_Farewell for a while_

_I'm going away_

_But I'll be back_

_Though I go 10,000 miles/_

–10,000 Miles, Sleeping at Last

Chapter 2 – Rushing Comets

Funerals were hard, Bellamy had read somewhere. But he'd never seen a funeral. He'd never felt the weight of waiting with bated breath for the anvil of justice to slam down, either. Yet, there was a silence that suffocated and stole the air around him as he watched his mother from the other side of the glass.

_I love you, Bellamy_.

"Don't do this," Bellamy whispered chokingly at the council. "Please."

_You're gonna grow up to be great, Bellamy_.

It was protocol for all of the council to attend every floating. But this wasn't protocol for Bellamy. This wasn't anything that Bellamy could understand logically.

_Watch over your sister, Bellamy_.

"She broke the law," Marcus pursed his lips. There was a clear tension around his eyes, but Bellamy couldn't see because his eyes were trained on his mother's tear filled face.

_Don't look when they float me, Bellamy. Don't look. _

"Please, please," Bellamy's eyes burned. "You don't have to do this–send her to ground, too."

Marcus's hand was warm and heavy on Bellamy's shoulder. "It's out of our hands. She broke the law."

"Look after him," Bellamy's mother screamed through the glass. She wasn't going _quietly into that good night_; then again, no one ever went quietly. "Do you hear me, Marcus? Look after him! You owe me tha–"

She was gone. The airlock hatch opened, and her eyes, wide, gasping for breath in surprise was the last image he'd had of his mother. It was cruel and terrifying, but Bellamy didn't try to look away.

Despite the fact he could still hear her words from when they'd given him a moment earlier to say goodbye–_Don't look_–he couldn't pull his eyes away.

He needed to remember this.

He needed to see what floating–_death_ was really like.

He loved his mother, and _he_ owed her that much. Even if she didn't want it.

"I'm sorry," Marcus said stoically. But Bellamy didn't need his sorry's.

"What's gonna happen to me now," Bellamy rubbed at his eyes, trying to stay away the tears that silently fell.

"You're going to bury that pain for when you've got time to grieve," Marcus nodded solemnly at him. "Because right now you need to keep all your focus on beating the odds kid. Cry when you've survived."

"Where am I gonna go until I leave?"

"You'll stay with Marcus," The Chancellor responded before Marcus could. Marcus looked at him in surprise, but Jaha didn't seem to notice or care. He repeated, "You'll stay with Councilman Kane until it's time for your final journey to the ground."

_May we meet again. _

Bellamy looked at Marcus with a deep sadness in his soul. HIs mother was dead.

His sister was far from him.

All he had was a reluctant father who he wasn't sure was his father.

_I love you, Bellamy_.

Bellamy felt truly alone.

* * *

A week later, Bellamy found himself in a room with Charles Pike, his history teacher. Pike was kind and stern in that way that didn't make Bellamy's hair stand on end. Unlike those on the guard or on the council–it was the authority in their voice. There was something about the inherent entitlement to their tone that spoke of their expectation to be obeyed that always made Bellamy grit his teeth.

_This is how you track._

_These are the fruits you can eat, and the ones you can't._

_This is how you find fresh water._

_This is how you build shelter. _

Orders, orders, and more orders, but Bellamy felt invigorated. Though he was staying with Marcus Kane while he learned what he'd need to know from Mr. Pike, Octavia had to be put in the skybox until launch, which Bellamy didn't like, but there wasn't much he could do about it.

"_It's not fair," Chancellor Jaha had said somberly,_ "_but her mere existence is a crime. We can't be seen as lenient or else everyone will think it's okay to have more than one child. It's not fair, but you'll see her when you leave for the ground_."

They tried to give her the same instruction as they did Bellamy, but at seven years old, her attention span was slim, her fear of the arc greater, and what would take him a few minutes to learn and understand would take her half an hour. In the end, it was just more efficient to teach her basics separate from Bellamy with the second grade teacher who had the patience for it.

But Bellamy's time with Pike was preferable to the uncomfortable silence with Councilman Kane. It was like his mother's death hung in the space between them, and they didn't know how to exist in the sadness together; maybe they didn't know how to exist together at all. But Kane was trying, and Bellamy couldn't stop trying because it wasn't apart of who he was. He'd cried desperately that first night in an unfamiliar bed in a room twice the size of his whole apartment with his mother and Octavia. He'd cried and buried his grief just like Kane told him to. Bellamy wasn't sure what else to do, and instead focused on the rhythm of his new life suddenly; Kane would drop him off with Pike early in the day, and when the day's lesson was done, he would walk out to Clarke's presence waiting for him.

It was strange and nice. He'd never really had any friends. Not like this anyway. He couldn't with Octavia's presence a secret. Friends wanted to visit, and spend time together. But his friends couldn't come over without putting Octavia in danger, and he couldn't spend time with friends without feeling guilty that he'd left Octavia all alone.

"Now, what do you do if you see a bear?" Pike asked randomly. It was a test to see if he remembered the information from two days ago.

"Make myself big and yell?" Bellamy hesitated. It wasn't that he didn't remember the information. It just didn't seem like a smart choice of action.

"Good. I'll see you tomorrow," Pike nodded approvingly.

Bellamy walked out of the room, and like clock work, there was Clarke. She smiled at him, and he rolled his eyes.

Her happiness grated on his nerves sometimes, and it was shitty and horrible, but her anger felt more real to him than her happiness.

"How was it?" Clarke asked as they started walking to Kane's apartment.

"It was okay. I think they're full of shit though–"

"Don't curse," Clarke hissed, eyes wide and affronted. "And why do you think they're full of–well–"

Bellamy couldn't help the laugh that bubbled up at her predicament. "Full of _shit_?"

"You're _vulgar!_"

"Big word. Too bad I don't know what it means," Bellamy teased. "If I did, I bet I'd be real offended."

Clarke rolled her eyes, and pursed her lips to keep from laughing. It was ridiculous, and she disliked his flagrant disregard for polite rules, but she also envied the way he could just shrug off all expectation of polite society. He didn't care, and she wished she knew how to not care too, sometimes.

But she wouldn't let him distract her.

"_Bellamy_!"

"Yes, princess," he smirked, and she felt the overwhelming urge to kick him.

The glare she gave him put something at rest inside of his chest, and it was weird and warm. This was nice in a way Bellamy couldn't explain at the tender age of thirteen.

After a moment, when it was clear Clarke was going to attack him, he smiled and lifted his hands in surrender.

"Okay, okay," he put his hands back in his pockets as they passed corridor after corridor. He couldn't get used to the cleanliness of Alpha Station. He wasn't sure he'd ever get used to it. Even the air in this part of the ark tasted privileged, he was sure. "I don't know, it just doesn't make sense to me."

"What doesn't?"

"Well, they're teaching me all these things, to survive Earth, but how can they know anything if we're not down there?"

"History–our ancestors left a lot of information for the day we'd go back to the ground," Clarke said confidently.

But he couldn't share that confidence.

"Things change though, right? What was true a thousand years ago about the Earth wasn't still true when our ancestors came up here. All I'm saying is that there were dinosaurs once. There could be dinosaurs again. How am I gonna deal with that? I sure as shit am not gonna yell at it and pretend I'm it's size."

"_Don't curse_," Clarke snapped exasperated. "And Dinosaurs went extinct. And The radiation killed everything so you shouldn't see any animals."

"If there aren't any animals, how am I gonna survive? I can't live on leaves."

Their conversation was cut short when Kane interrupted them.

"The council wants you," Kane said somberly.

"What do they need? It's not time yet." Bellamy questioned curiously, but Kane raised an eyebrow.

Clarke jumped in quickly, "I'm coming with him."

Kane wanted to tell Clarke that she couldn't go, but he saw how they stood, shoulder to shoulder, erect and leaning against each other. They were formidable, even in their small stature, and Kane couldn't stop his lips from lifting slightly for a moment.

Considering she knew what was happening, he didn't see the harm. As they walked to the council's room, Kane tried to make conversation.

"So, how was your day?"

"It was alright," Bellamy shrugged uncomfortably.

"Anything you didn't understand?"

Kane's face was stern, but Bellamy was starting to think that was just the way he always looked. Clarke didn't know that though, and took his question as a rebuke.

Clarke glared at Kane, "He's trying really hard! But he's not a magician. He can't learn it all in a few days."

"I'm fine," Bellamy frowned, refusing to look at either. "I've got this," he turned to look at Clarke.

Even though it was her idea, he knew she was nervous for him. He could see it in her eyes, and it made him feel funny in his stomach. Like there was a clenched fist in his gut.

"You do," she said emphatically.

Kane looked at them thoughtfully. He didn't understand them, though he knew kids tended to make friends in the strangest ways sometimes.

"Well, I wasn't spectacular at Earth Skills class, and never took the advanced elective, but if you have any questions, I'm sure I could answer," Kane said gruffly.

Clarke still didn't like him, but she thought it was nice of him to offer. Bellamy thought it was the nicest thing his maybe–father had ever said to him.

His eyes burned a bit, and he looked away so neither Clarke nor Kane could see how affected he was by such a simple offering.

Finally, they made it to the room where Abby, Jaha, and two other scientists stood around a map of the ground.

"Clarke, what are you doing here?" Abby asked with clear surprise in her eyes.

"You wanted Bellamy" Clarke shrugged as though that were any kind of reason for why _she_ was there. Perhaps it was in some way. Abby, like Kane, didn't understand what linked these two kids together.

Abby pursed her lips and tried to dismiss Clarke. "Okay, well, we have to discuss some important things with Bellamy, so you can speak to him later."

"I want her here," Bellamy stopped Clarke from even thinking about leaving. "Anything you can say to me, you can say to her."

Abby rolled her eyes. "Despite what you two seem to think, she's eleven, you're thirteen, and you're both children. She doesn't have clearance–"

"I trust her," Bellamy cut the councilwoman off fiercely.

"No one's doubting your trust," Jaha weighed in, Kane suspiciously silent on the entire matter.

Jake Griffin smiled though. "Well, then, if you _need_ her by your side, who are we to object?"

Bellamy didn't hesitate. "I do. Need her."

"Okay," Kane clapped his hands together and shuffled the kids towards the empty stools while Abby muttered a quiet but clear "this is ridiculous." Though tall, Bellamy still had to kneel on top of the stool to get a good look at the map on the table.

"What is all this?" Clarke whispered, slightly in awe.

"This is the ground," Jake winked conspiratorially.

Clarke's eyes lit up, and even Bellamy couldn't help the small smile that graced his usually serious face. It was a moment of magic, of seeing the ground as more than just a blue ball of hope amongst the stars. The map made the ground _real_. Tangible. Reachable.

"We need to show you where you'll land," Abby said briskly as she pointed towards Mount Weather. Before she could even explain, Bellamy said a curt "no."

"No?" Jaha parroted curiously.

"No."

"No?" even Kane had joined the stupefied ride. Though his stern and arrogant nature won out quickly over his confusion. "What do you mean no? This is where you'll be landing."

Bellamy looked at Clarke, and Clarke raised her eyebrows as if to say 'I'm as confused as them.' But she wasn't. Not really. Not after Bellamy had already expressed his distrust in the Council's knowledge earlier.

He didn't trust them. It was that simple, and Clarke was quick enough to pick that up, though she wasn't sure what other option they had.

"If he's the one being thrown into Earth, doesn't he get a say where he lands?" Clarke tried to back him up, but her voice wavered uncertainly.

"Where could he possibly _want_ to land?" Jake Griffin shook his head, clear amusement in his eyes.

"There," Bellamy pointed to a random spot on the map. He hadn't really thought it through, he just knew that any place the council _wanted_ to send him to was a place he didn't want to be.

"You want to land in rural Georgia?"

Bellamy and Clarke looked at each other again, both unsure, but Bellamy didn't trust the council and Clarke believed in Bellamy. It was unfounded, considering she hadn't known him for more than a drop in the ocean of their lives, but it was enough.

Clarke's faith in Bellamy was unwavering, immutable, based off of nothing except a thrum in her heart that told her at such a young age that Bellamy was worth having faith in; anyone that incurred the council's rage simply to do the right thing, to protect their sister, was worth believing in.

"What's the difference between Georgia and wherever you want to send him?" Clarke tried to help Bellamy again.

"There's a bonker," Abby's tone was harsh. She was fed up with this conversation. She knew Clarke wanted to help, and Bellamy probably just wanted to feel a little less helpless, but they weren't in charge. The council were the adults. _Of course_, they knew best, and it was absurd that they were talking this out as though Bellamy had a choice! "Where you'll land you should have food and shelter to last a few years. If you survive, and we've confirmed that the Earth is survivable, then it'll hold out until we arrive to the ground."

Her words were sound, and Clarke looked at Bellamy again. She shrugged, conveying clearly that she was out of protests.

But Bellamy was a Blake, and Blakes didn't bow out or back down. He pursed his lips and spoke slowly–feeling the words in his mouth as he said them. "I know you're all trying your best, but that's not where I want to land."

"You don't really have a choice," Jaha said in that calm way of his.

"We always have a choice," Bellamy shrugged, and looked at Clarke again. She nodded subtly, agreeing with him on one hand and simultaneously telling him that she was with him, whatever way he was about to piss the council off. He squared his shoulders, "_I _have a choice, and I'm saying I'm not landing there. And if you decide to drop me there anyway, then I'll just walk the opposite direction _away_ from the bunker."

"You'd be condemning yourself _and_ your sister to death,"Jake tried to impart the information gently, though Bellamy hadn't needed the gentle tone. He felt bad going against Jake Griffin when the man had done nothing but been kind and mostly reasonable since he met him, but this was his life.

This was his life, his sister, his responsibility, and he wasn't about to let anyone else, especially people he didn't trust decide how he steered it. Not if he could help it.

"I know you think that," Bellamy stared at the council with clear eyes. "And you might be right, or you might be _wrong_. I can't try to live like you would because I'm not you and I don't know even half the stuff you do. I gotta live or die my way. That starts by landing there."

The council didn't know what else to say; they didn't want to send him to Mount Weather only to have him self-sabotage.

"We need to discuss this," Jaha dismissed the kids.

Clarke and Bellamy scrambled to get down and leave, but Bellamy heard Jaha tell Kane as he was exiting, "that boy's definitely got that legendary Kane stubbornness and pride."

Kane didn't refute it, and Bellamy didn't know how he felt about it.

"_I gotta live or die my way_," Clarke mocked him quietly once they were outside, bobbing her head side to side. "_That starts by landing there_–psh! You are so full of _shit_!"

Bellamy's face broke out in a huge smile, and Clarke couldn't help but smile incredulously back as she shook her head.

"Don't curse, princess," he grinned. "I've heard it's a bad habit."

* * *

It was a gruelling two weeks that flew by like love on wings. Bellamy missed Octavia, but he also wished his life had been a lot like it was now–calm, scheduled, hopeful.

It was strange to stand in front of an opened hatch, all done up in a proper and uncomfortable spacesuit, about to board a small space pod. He could still feel the shadow of Octavia's small arms around him when she'd been brought moments before.

"_Bellamy_!" She'd screamed his name loudly. It was a far cry from the crying and shaking girl he'd last seen a few weeks ago. She'd rushed into his body, and the imprint of such love stayed with him as he refused to go inside until the final possible moment.

He didn't want to go until he had to because once he left there was no going back. There was no certainty that they'd even survive the trip to the ground. There would never be another chance to laugh with Clarke, to annoy her endlessly. There would never be another chance to make awkward conversation with Kane, stare at him endlessly looking for all the ways they were possibly similar.

"Think I'll see any chickens?" Bellamy smirked with false bravado.

"_No_," Clarke said emphatically, but after a moment shrugged. "Maybe. Don't eat them if you do. Chickens might make a nice pet."

"I don't think I'll need a pet."

"You'll need a friend," Clarke bit her lip. "I don't want you to be alone down there."

Silence hung between them, but Bellamy reached out and engulfed Clarke into a bone crushing hug–the kind that Octavia had given him less than ten minutes ago. The kind that imprinted itself into the essence of a person, stayed with them for a lifetime.

"I won't be alone," he whispered in her ear. "I've got you up here."

Clarke's arms wrapped around his back tight, worry and fear crashing through her.

"Don't eat bugs," Clarke started to ramble into his chest. "And don't curse, and don't forget to drink lots of water–my mom said that Georgia's hot, remember. And–don't forget about me."

"I won't," Bellamy promised.

"It's time," Abby said firmly to Bellamy. They let eachother go; Bellamy stepped away and stood next to her. It seemed like Clarke was always standing next to Bellamy these days.

Bellamy nodded somberly at Abby, and looked at Clarke. He didn't know what to say. He didn't know _how_ to say that he would miss her.

"If Earth is survivable, I'll see you down there," Clarke said confidently.

Bellamy chuckled, "I'll make sure to have a castle waiting just for you, princess."

Clarke rolled her eyes, the entire council stood behind her smiling. There was worry in their hearts, but a sight as pure as the one they were witnessing made them all feel warm. They didn't get many moments like this on the ark.

"Alright," Jaha stepped forward and clapped his hands together. "Time to go."

"May we meet again," Bellamy looked at Clarke one last time. Her golden head was a halo surrounding her, and he wondered what would have happened if he'd stepped into someone else's apartment two weeks ago.

"May we meet again," Clarke bit her lip as her heart thudded in worry. She wished she was going with them.

Bellamy didn't know what to say to Kane, either, but he didn't need to because Kane spoke for the both of them.

"Remember: _Prove you're a fighter, kid. Beat the odds._"

Bellamy smiled, squared his shoulders and went through the open hatch that beckoned him.

A moment later, Clarke, Kane, and the entire council watched from behind the glass as Bellamy and Octavia were thrust away from the arc, a rushing comet in space headed to the ground.

* * *

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